Blog
Here is why you should consider website accessibility from the beginning!
Starting a new development I have just started consulting on a new project. It is the development of a search tool from one of the UK’s regional parliaments. This tool is to replace the one that is already there, which is rather old and not at all accessible for disabled people. The emphasis from the client has been that they wanted accessibility to be at the forefront of the development of this new tool so my... read more »
The Tab Test
A test that anyone can do! Would you like a quick way to find out if the website you are on is accessible to disabled people? Let me tell you about The Tab Test! This is so easy that anyone can do it, on any website! Website accessibility is a complicated subject, it is very technical and it is easy to get lost in the jargon. It is important to not get too distracted by that. Fundamentally it... read more »
Website Accessibility Training Day 27th October 2022
This event has been postponed for a few weeks time in a new venue, details to follow... This training day is aimed specifically at web designers and web design agencies. This is the first of a series I will be running across the Sussex and Hampshire area. I also have plans to run them virtually in the future as well. What is it about? This training day is not about your preferred platform, programming language or style. My aim... read more »
As you can see, our beautfiul new website is now live
We are so excited about our brand-new website! Our goal with our website is to create a space that is both beautiful and informative, a place where you can come to learn more about our company and our ethos. It is groundbreaking in terms of accessibility and sums up why we are called Access by Design. More details are to come We will be posting more about what makes it unique over the coming weeks as we have... read more »
A message for web designers everywhere
Are you struggling? Are you a web designer? Are you struggling with accessibility? You do not have to struggle any more. You are a web designer because you love to be creative. You love to design and create websites that reflect your client's brand and has your own identity on them. The idea of accessibility is perhaps one that makes you feel uncomfortable? The technical side of it is perhaps too daunting. Perhaps, instead, you think it will hamper your creativity. It... read more »
10 top tips on improving the accessibility of your website
Web accessibility is a complicated area, a lot of people are confused by it. It is one of those subjects that people just do not know where to start with. I want to help you This is why I have created a guide that contains 10 tips that are straightforward to do and many of them you... read more »
Should a website that is fully accessible for disabled people cost more?
Should accessibility be expensive? Should a website that is fully accessible for disabled people cost more? How much more would be reasonable? After all, if you are going to build a website that is fully accessible for disabled people, it means that you are going to build it correctly. It means that you will build it so that it falls within the guidelines and, most importantly, it will be able to be... read more »
This is why I hate website accessibility overlays
What is a web accessibility overlay? (Extract taken from: https://overlayfactsheet.com/) Overlays are a broad term for technologies that aim to improve the accessibility of a website. They apply third-party source code (typically JavaScript) to make improvements to the front-end code of the website. Website add-on products claiming to improve accessibility go back to the late 1990s with products like Readspeaker and Browsealoud. They added text-to-speech capabilities to the website(s) on which they were installed. Then similar products... read more »
Do you know what a site map is?
Do you know what a site map is? Site maps are great! They are, quite simply, a very clean page full of links to all the pages and categories of posts found on a website. They allow anyone to be able to visit any page on a website with a single command. A command, by the way, could be a mouse click, selecting with a keyboard command, using dictation software or even selecting with your... read more »
Skips Links - an introduction
What are Skip links? Have you heard of Skip Links? They are hyperlinks that are usually hidden visually and they have a specific purpose: they help disabled visitors avoid having to tab through every page of navigation before they reach the main part of the page they are on. They will normally say “Skip to Main Content” They help disabled people This could include someone who is blind and is using a screen-reader like JAWS or NVDA,... read more »